The Handlooms, Textiles and Handicrafts Department has been asked by Odisha government to speed up the process of setting up an Apparel Incubation Centre at National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), Bhubaneswar.

Once operational, the 300-machine Apparel Incubation Centre which was approved two years back will promote entrepreneurship in the garment sector and create over 600 jobs.

The Department has been asked to provide all the required help to NIFT to make the Apparel Incubation Centre a reality.

Additionally, the Government will establish a Yarn Bank in the state to provide raw material at a reasonable price to the weavers and powerloom centres.

Currently, there are around 1,500 powerlooms units in Odisha. The Government has also instructed the Textile Department of the state to create market linkages for the products manufactured at the units.